To the Point

NYT Resignations Cast Light on Journalistic Ethics

An ethics scandal rocks the credibility of a major American institution. Despite full disclosure, the controversy won-t go away. Finally, top executives are forced to resign--a page torn from the recent travails of the New York Times, where reporter Jayson Blair got on a fast track to prestigious assignments even though he consistently plagiarized and invented stories that he reported as fact. Last month, editors disclosed the problem and admitted responsibility. Yesterday, Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd resigned. How did it happen? Can the damage be repaired? What are the lessons for American journalism? We ask veteran journalists who edit and cover the news and the media, the dean of the UC Berkeley-s School of Journalism, and the former president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Making News: Hamas Ends Cease-Fire Talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas President Bush has barely returned from the Middle East, but his -road map- for peace is already in trouble. Saying that Mahmoud Abbas made too many concessions, Hamas is cutting off all dialogue with the Palestinian Authority. Matt Rees, Jerusalem bureau chief for Time magazine, says the group's stance jeopardizes Abu Mazen's political strategy as well as his tenuous relationship with Chairman Yasser Arafat. Reporter's Notebook: Funny Cide, First Gelding with a Shot at Triple Crown The -triple crown- means winning three horse races in five weeks. Only eleven 3-year olds have ever won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, one after the other. The last horse that did was Affirmed in 1978. But at Belmont tomorrow, a gelding called Funny Cide has a chance. Newsday-s Paul Moran, who has covered horseracing for 30 years, reports on -the most unlikely horse to find himself in this position.-